Helping Malaysian kids fall in love with music and movement

by Emma Hogan
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Lexie Knowles and Les Mills BORN TO MOVE classes are a match made in heaven. This mother of two is a personal trainer who specializes in youth fitness and she has a background in childcare. And, most importantly, she says she’s a big kid a heart.

Check out Lexie Knowles’ story about falling in love with BORN TO MOVE™ and how she’s now helping Malaysian kids do the same.

“It was LES MILLS™ group exercise that started me on my fitness journey and provided me with one of the first experiences of pride and a growing self-confidence. I had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorders when I started attending BODYCOMBAT™ classes. It helped me realize how much I was capable of and I opened up to pushing my boundaries and accepting my capabilities.

As soon as I heard Les Mills was launching a program for children I needed to know more. I’d been teaching BODYCOMBAT for a few years and was ready for a new challenge. When I discovered BORN TO MOVE I knew it would be perfect. I’m a mom, I worked in childcare during my college years, I chose youth fitness as one of my personal training specialties and, most importantly, I’m a big kid a heart.

Group exercise did so much for me as an adult, so I knew straight away that the benefits of BORN TO MOVE for children would go so much further than purely physical. I knew it would give children the freedom to express themselves, discover their own capabilities and push them in a safe and encouraging environment.

When I attended the BORN TO MOVE teacher training I was barely able to hold back the tears. My son had recently been diagnosed with combined ADD and ADHD. He loves sport and activities but struggles with staying focused for whole games. His confidence would suffer if he couldn’t score a goal, be the fastest or get skills right first time. Every mother hates to see their child downhearted and upset but knowing those feelings of self-doubt would eat me up. As I learnt about how inclusive yet individual the BORN TO MOVE classes were, all I could think is my son will love this!

As soon as I gained my BORN TO MOVE teacher certification I began scoping any opportunity to teach the classes. I was lucky enough to be asked to run a series of classes at Tenby International School in Johor, Malaysia. It was part of their International School’s Sport Week so every child from Grade 1 through to Grade 10 took part. My first full class was with 75 kids!

The kids loved BORN TO MOVE so much that the following term I began offering classes as part of the afterschool activities program. The advance signups were great but I couldn’t have predicted the final take up. It was fantastic – I started my first term with 60 kids across the age groups.

I have just kicked off my second term at Tenby and am about to add a class for 4 and 5 year olds to the schedule. I'm looking to offer additional classes out of school hours open to children from surrounding areas. I am also working with the school to explore how BORN TO MOVE material could be used as part of the PE curriculum.

Becoming a BORN TO MOVE teacher has changed my career and my life. I know I’m positively impacting these kids through this amazing program and have the best test pilots for new releases in my son and daughter. The highlight of the near future for me will be finally taking part in a class as a parent with my two year old daughter. Bring on the music, bring on the love, bring on the sparkle!”